The Logical Database

2 Nonfunctional RequirementsFunctional necessities characterize the necessities as far as execution, sensible database prerequisites, plan limitations, norms consistence, dependability, accessibility, security, viability, and compactness. Model 1Performance RequirementsPerformance necessities characterize worthy reaction times for framework usefulness. The heap time for UI screens will take no longer than two seconds.The sign in data will be checked inside five seconds.Queries will return results inside five seconds.Example 2Logical Database RequirementsThe consistent database necessities incorporate the maintenance of the accompanying information components. This rundown is certifiably not a total rundown and is planned as a beginning stage for developmentBooking/Reservation SystemCustomer first nameCustomer last nameCustomer addressCustomer telephone numberNumber of occupantsAssigned roomDefault room rateRate descriptionGuaranteed room (yes/no)Credit card numberConfirmation numberAutomatic undoing dateExpected registration dateExpected registration timeActual registration dateActual registration timeExpected registration date Expected registration timeActual registration dateActual registration timeCustomer feedbackPayment got (yes/no)Payment typeTotal BillFood ServicesMealMeal typeMeal itemMeal orderMeal installment (Bill to room/Credit/Check/Cash)EXAMPLE 3Design ConstraintsThe Hotel Management System will be an independent framework running in a Windows domain. The framework will be created utilizing Java and an Access or Oracle databaseIllustrate a time period expected to finish each undertaking dependent on the necessities from question 2.(5 Marks)Answer Estimating time framesTo deal with your time well, you should realize what errands you have to achieve, yet additionally when those assignments must be finished and to what extent they'll take. Making exact gauges to what extent an undertaking will take is one of the keys to successful time the board. Numerous administration issues are the consequence of unreasonable assessments of to what extent it will take to finish explicit tasks.If you gauge time spans precisely, you'll have the option to plan work proficiently and meet deadlines:schedule work efficientlyâ †Accurate gauges to what extent undertakings will take to finish make booking significantly simpler. They guarantee that you won't need to continue changing your calendar. On the off chance that you have an assignment that you precisely gauge will take six hours, for instance, you can distribute that time in your timetable and be sensibly sure you won't need to change the calendar. Yet, consider the possibility that you didn't precisely assess the ideal opportunity for that task and allocated it just three hours. It would perplex your calendar, and you'd have to revamp it.meet deadlinesâ †If you're precise in assessing the time it will take to finish errands, you'll be better ready to comply with your time constraints. In case you're gauges aren't exact, you may need to request to change cutoff times or disillusion other people who are depending on you to finish certain errands. With exact time gauges, you'll likewise be progressively sure about setting cutoff times since you realize that the time you relegate for finishing every one of your errands is sensible. Time gauge equationIt's essential to evaluate the time periods for your undertakings precisely with the goal that you can plan all your work successfully and fulfill time constraints. To approach doing this, you first need to know the necessities of each undertaking and your involvement in exercises †both when they run easily and when they don't †to create three time estimates:The likely timeâ is the time that the assignment typically takes you to finish. It assists with considering the time it takes to finish the errand without interference. You ought to likewise consider a time span you would be alright with dependent on your remaining burden, the undertaking, and any outer elements that may postpone or accelerate the consummation of the task.The shortest timeâ is minimal measure of time that you have taken to finish the errand previously. It might likewise allude to the briefest time wherein you want to finish the undertaking if there are no interferences or distractions.You can gauge theâ longest timeâ by thinking about what may turn out badly when playing out the errand and afterward adding this additional opportunity to the assignment's presumable term. This gauge ought to be founded on your experience of this kind of movement before, just as on any predictable difficulties.You utilize the three time assessments to figure the most brief conceivable opportunity to finish an assignment dependent on a normal of the reasonable, most limited, and longest occasions. Since much of the time an errand will set aside the probable effort to finish, this time is given more weight. You have to increase it by 4, include the most limited time, and afterward include the longest time. You separate the aggregate by 6 to get the most brief conceivable time.One significant thing to recollect is that you should utilize similar estimations for each kind of time. For instance, if your possible time is various days, the most brief and longest occasions should likewise be in days. On the off chance that your assessments are in various estimations, start by transforming them so they are no different. The time spans condition regularly creates a briefest conceivable time that is longer than the most brief time you put into the condition. This is on the grounds that the condition guarantees that you're reasonable about to what extent things will take.To deal with your time adequately, you need to appraise the time it will take to finish every one of your errands. Doing this guarantees you can plan your work fittingly and comply with all your time constraints. To assess the time spans for your assignments, you can utilize a basic time spans condition, which uses gauges for the reasonable, briefest, and longest occasions to ascertain the practical, most limited conceivable time that it will take to finish a task.https://library.skillport.com/courseware/Content/cca/pd_11_a02_bs_enus/yield/html/sb/sbpd_11_a02_bs_enus002005.htmlFive dangers to your business that you have to consider for the achievement of this framework. Answer: After evaluating the qualities and shortcomings of your business for your field-tested strategy, search for outer powers, similar to circumstances and dangers, that may affect its predetermination. These progressions includeThe appearance of new or more grounded competitorsThe development of one of a kind technologiesShifts in the size or segment sythesis of your market areaChanges in the economy that influence client purchasing habitsChanges in client inclinations that influence purchasing habitsChanges that adjust the manner in which clients get to your business Changes in legislative issues, strategies, and regulationsFads and design crazesList the dangers and openings confronting your business, and follow these guidelines:When posting openings, think about rising advances, accessibility of new materials, new client classifications, changing client tastes, advertise development, new uses for old items (consider how cell phones and even eyeglasses presently twofold as cameras and PCs), new dissemination or area openings, positive changes in your serious condition, and different powers that can influence your prosperity. When posting dangers, think about the effect of contracting markets, adjusted purchaser tastes and buy inclinations, crude material deficiencies, monetary downturns, new guidelines, changes that influence access to your business, and serious dangers, including new contending organizations and serious mergers and coalitions. Additionally consider the effect of lapsing licenses, work issues, worldwide issues, and new items that may make your contribution obsolete or superfluous. In case you're making some extreme memories getting explicit, glance back at the qualities and shortcomings, yet this time, use it to list qualities and shortcomings of a contender. You won't know as much about your rival's abilities as you think about your own, however you most likely realize enough to signal territories of solidarity and shortcoming. Your rival's qualities are possible dangers to your business, and its shortcomings present expected chances. http://www.dummies.com/business/start-a-business/field-tested strategies/how-to-recognize openings and-dangers in-business-arranging/Three components of hazard All hazard the executives principles concur that the objective of hazard the board is to improve the odds of accomplishment of the important undertaking. In any case, every one of them gives an alternate meaning of hazard: ISO31000:2009 calls it â€Å"effect of vulnerability on objectives,† the PMI â€Å"PMBOK Guide†Ã¢ has â€Å"an dubious occasion or condition that, on the off chance that it happens, has a positive or negative impact on the undertaking's objectives,† and the favored Risk Doctor definition is â€Å"uncertainty that issues. â€Å"Each portrayal is valid, yet just incompletely so. This issues in light of the fact that, until we comprehend what we are managing, we can't oversee it in the most ideal manner possible:If we utilize the ISO definition, at that point our first idea will be to concentrate on the effect;If we follow PMI, at that point we will begin from the potential occurrence;With the Risk Doctor definition, we start from uncertainty.Each of these †the impact, the occasion and the uncertaintyâ â€â is a part of hazard, however all alone isn't a hazard. Indeed, even taken two by two they don't give the full picture:an impact in addition to an occasion isâ an issue;an occasion in addition to a vulnerability isâ a prediction;an vulnerability in addition to and impact isâ a concern.It is just when you set up every one of the three that you can perceive what a hazard is made of, and utilize this data to choose what, on the off chance that anything, to do about it. Obviously, this at that point requires a more extended definition, however the objective upgrading the odds of progress merits the effort.But what is â€Å"success†? It is more than basically â€Å"meeting objectives;† it should likewise incorporate the state of â€Å"complying with venture constraints† all together for the conclusive outcome to stay inside degree. The three-section definition assists with three significant phases of the hazard the executives process:1.risk recognizable proof, it underpins

Personal Identity in Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Identity in Facebook - Essay Example As it has been expressed, â€Å"A sociological way to deal with self and personality starts with the suspicion that there is a corresponding connection between oneself and society† (Stets and Burke n.d; p.1). As it were, one can't characterize themselves without society. Individual personality is, in this manner, who one is corresponding to society. Such a general public doesn't just exist in the physical world, yet in the computerized world also. As it has been composed, â€Å"Social systems, for example, Facebook can be of incredible impact in the manner we all fit as a fiddle our own identities†. The significance of this relationship can without much of a stretch be seen when long range interpersonal communication is the principle type of correspondence between certain nearby family members. The way that relatives collaborate online is charming to consider. The system can go about as a variable that changes conduct. Changes in conduct because of online versus in-pers on correspondences and exercises have been demonstrated. For instance, when contemplating the distinction in purchaser conduct online it was seen that online purchasers tend as more basic and offbeat than face to face. This is because of the way that correlation shopping in simple. (Degeratu et al 2011). Individual Identity Background There has been so much significant work done in this specific field that there are incalculable various techniques that are really utilized in the systems themselves (Abrudan 2011; p. 25). A portion of the fundamental essential activities that manage individual character are things, for example, making an individual profile. Making individual profile is generally the primary thing that guests solicited to do on practically all from the significant informal communities, including Facebook. The profile will be the initial step of the way toward passing on much close to home data. Obviously, they request the most fundamental individual things, for example , name, age, birthday, and different things for distinguishing purposes. The individuals who sign up to be a piece of this advanced network initially present themselves by giving their fundamental definition. The data that they give is a piece of how they want to characterize themselves. In spite of the fact that it is well mannered propensity, self presentation is once in a while called for in today’s society. One need not tell who they are the point at which they enter a shopping center, for instance. This is something that is particularly basic on the web. It affects how individuals distinguish themselves in their psyches. After the underlying distinguishing data is finished, there are generally more inquiries and reviews that work to reveal progressively about the individual. These inquiries are of numerous types and in different territories, for example, diversions, interests, most loved things, connections, individual inclinations, companions, family, contact data, and numerous other related points. These are the sorts of inquiries that require the individual to contemplate what their identity is. They should choose exactly how much about themselves that they may be happy to impart to the remainder of the world. When they have perused the entirety of the inquiries that they are posed, some even return over their answers, ensuring the appropriate responses given are passing on the

Classical Conditioning Learn How to Create Habits for Success

Classical Conditioning Learn How to Create Habits for Success Don’t you know that there is science behind your cravings for your favorite restaurant food or sweets when you think about them?This science is also responsible for your excitement when you go out to work. It’s also the reason why you’re probably scared about the idea of hiking if you have fear of heights.It’s even responsible for people’s urge to smoke cigarettes or drink coffee if they are addicted to nicotine and/or caffeine, respectively. This science what we call as classical conditioning, and you will realize here that it’s actually a part of our everyday reactions. Classical conditioning is a type of learning that acquires new information and behavior based on associating a certain stimulation.Many experts believe that classical conditioning deals with our reaction based on our experience. It’s also believed that classical conditioning refers to a learning process based on a paired stimulus. It’s where a strong stimulus is paired with a neutral-level stimulus i n order to create a response.The basics of classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov. Several factors which employ classical conditioning were soon discovered after he discovered it.These will be explained later on.Firstly, let us take a look at Ivan Pavlov’s life and how he was able to develop classical conditioning.IVAN PAVLOV THE FATHER OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONINGIvan Pavlov (September 14, 1849 February 27, 1936) was the physiologist who discovered the learning process.His childhood days in a church school in Ryazan showed a curiosity at a highly intellectual level that he calls his “instinct for research”. He got his ideas when he based Dmitry Pisarev and Ivan Sechenov’s ideals in physiology.As a result, Pavlov started to focus on science and physiology and left he church school to attend a natural science course at the University of Saint Petersburg.From this moment, until his discovery of classical conditioning, Pavlov was able to comfortably study his passi on to the point where he became known as one of the most successful physiologists of his time.Classical conditioning was actually his main focus throughout his career and he devoted his life in developing various theories about it.He was able to grab various rewards in his career, such as gold medals when he got his degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences in 2875. He even won a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1904; the first Russian to receive the Nobel prize.He is highly regarded and respected for his talents even up to this day.A Dog, a Bell and Some Food: The Discovery of Classical ConditioningPavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning occurred in the 1900s where he experimented with his dog Circa. Pavlov’s experiment was the foundation of the learning process as it shows the very basics of the study.The very first experiment undergone two phases. The first one was conducted by Pavlov when the dog was placed in a box with a harness. The dog was left alone in the b ox for a few hours. This procedure was repeated many times on different days.However, this phase didn’t prove much of the study. However, the second phase proved the most basic result of the experiment.It was conducted by observing how Circa will salivate based on two different but paired stimulus.A salivary gland was attached to the dog to measure the amount of saliva produced upon stimulation. Pavlov rang a bell (which he called as the neutral stimulus or NS) and then gave food (Pavlov called this as the unconditioned stimulus or UCS) to Circa afterwards.The process was repeated every time Circa receives food.At the first few days, the dog salivated (labeled initially as an unconditioned response or UCR only at the sight of the food.But when the experiment was repeated further for multiple days, the dog seemed to salivate (now called as the conditioned response or CR) at the sound of the ring without the food being seen.This caused the neutral stimulus (the ringing) to become a conditioned stimulus (CS) through the support of the unconditioned stimulus (the food). This caused the dog to instinctively think that the ringing of the bell means mealtime.Author’s Note: I also had the same scenario with my cats. When we first go them, they don’t respond on the sound of the plastic bag when I shake it before feeding them with the ca food in it. After a few months, they respond quickly and approach me whenever they hear the rusting of the plastic bag. They even meow for food when they hear us eat during mealtime because they got used to getting fed right after our meals. It just shows that classical conditioning is purely based on experience and instinct combined.“The graph below serves as the blueprint of the experiment and the very basic example of classical conditioning: Source: PsychstudyHUMANS HAVE INSTINCTS: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING ON HUMANSClassical conditioning’s was also found out to be applicable to humans, as classical conditioning is a form behavioral pattern.There are numerous proofs where classical conditioning is applied to our everyday lives.It has played an important role in generating various responses. The field of behavioral science has also accepted classical conditioning as a basis for numerous researches that studies mental health as well.More advanced conditioning studies such as fear conditioning and taste aversion learning also rooted from trials conducted from classical conditioning.According to Morsella (Psychological Review, 2005), people have the ability to suppress behaviors but cannot suppress the urges that connects the stimulus of their behaviors.Morsella also states that the circuits in the brain that conducts classical conditioning are different from the circuits that develop our conscious memories.She also stated th at classical conditioning is different from operant conditioning as it’s based on stimulating the person in exchange of a certain reward which she called as “voluntary” conditioning.On the other hand, Morsella dubs classical conditioning as “involuntary”. She also credited Pavlov for the development of her review.Daily experiences from any type of stimulation can be conducted to humans as well, such as what this scene from The Office shows: In the video shown above, Jim classically conditions Dwight by giving him some mints whenever Jim’s computer plays an error sound. Jim repeatedly did It to the point where Dwight is instinctively asking for the mints even if Jim doesn’t have any at the moment.The Little Albert Experiment: A Case Study In Developing Phobia One of the milestones that made classical conditioning more noticeable to humans is the Little Albert Experiment. It was done by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner on a 9 month old infant named Albert.He was tested on his reactions by introducing stimuli based on animal interaction.Albert was able to touch and see white rats and monkeys. He was also introduced to objects such as masks. The infant didn’t respond to the animals and objects.However, Little Albert began to cry when these objects and animals were shown, followed by a loud sound of a hammer hitting a steel bar. The noise startled Little Albert to tears.Two months later, Albert was conditioned to fearing the rat by presenting it in front of the baby, followed by the noise of the hammer striking the steel bar.This was done seven times within seven weeks, resulting in Albert crying all the time.Afterwards, physiologists observed that Little Albert starts to experience fear upon the sight of the white rat even if no hammer is stroke against the steel bar.The conditioned response of fear is often conditionally stimulated by everything white from this point; even a white fur coat or a white dog scared the child.Watson and Rayner labele d this learning process as generalization, which is linked to various applications of classical conditioning in a human’s everyday life and activities.APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVESOur conditioned stimulus can come from different aspects of life that we have developed over the years.This is what Morsella has stated whenever we deal with involuntary reactions based on a certain stimuli that we expect or unexpectedly encounter in our everyday lives. Here are the following applications of classical conditioning that we may or may not be aware of in our daily lives:AdvertisingAdvertising techniques are also heavy associated with classical conditioning.Some businesses even conduct research with physiologists to observe the behavior of the people within their market. Companies employ different personalities for advertising.For example, animated character are often used as commercial models for kids’ products. On the other hand, beautiful women are often u sed for beauty product advertisements and apparels.The field of advertising can also use a certain daily scenario as a way to classically condition the market into purchasing their product. For example, a child or adult having a terrible cough is shown in commercials for cough medicines. In turn, the market to purchase on the company’s end when they suffer from a terrible cough.AddictionThe study of addiction to humans and its treatment was further advanced through the use of classical conditioning.Rehabilitation centers also employ classical conditioning to their treatments to drug and alcohol addicts.Addiction is an easy example of classical conditioning as people addicted to a certain substance can feel relaxed even before intaking what they crave for.For example, caffeine addicts may experience relaxation upon smelling or thinking about coffee.Author’s Note: I was addicted to cigarettes two years ago. When I first started to smoke in 2009, I suddenly adopted a trait where I suddenly crave for cigarettes just by smelling the smoke from other smokers. I even became conditioned to smoking whenever I feel stressed years later when I started working.Doctors also got help from physiologists when treating addiction. Smoking cessation can now be accomplished through medication.Varenicline is one of those products as it weakens a patient’s nicotinic receptor. This results in reduced cravings for nicotine and can decrease the satisfaction felt from smoking tobacco. Varencline’s notable side effect is nausea; it Is even induced when the patient starts smoking again.This is called as conditioned taste aversion an advanced form of classical conditioning in tasting food and substances. This also results the patient to instinctively remember themselves to intake Varencline whenever they feel the urge to smoke completely breaking the habit.Author’s Note: Classical conditioning is also applicable for breaking addiction without the need for drugs. However, it is through experience. I suffered from bronchitis two years ago, where I finally became a heavy smoker. Ever since I got cured from it, I always remembered that horrible experience whenever I think about smoking cigarettes prompting me to avoid it. It shows that you can conditionally become stimulated in quitting to smoke if you experienced something that negatively impacted you.Emotional ResponseThere are two types of emotional response that can be generated through classical conditioning: negative and positive responses.Negative responses such as fear can be stimulated by associating it with what the person hears. For example, if they are afraid of dogs, a nearby bark of the dog can make them nervous even if they can’t see the dog yet. Phobias such as fear of water can also occur to hydrophobic patients when they go to a beach resort or a swimming pool.Positive responses such as relaxation can also occur when a person thinks of traveling or a massage when they badly need one. Exc itement is also a response based on classical conditioning if you feel like something good’s going to happen soon, like a planned trip or a date.HungerCravings are one of the by-products of classical conditioning as they become hungry when they think about a dish they are craving, resulting in its immediate purchase or preparation.Their cravings happen as they were able to experience something satisfying when they ate the dish out of hunger in the past.Some people walking or driving around town can feel hungry after they spot a restaurant or a popular fast-food chain. This happens because people are conditioned with the fact that restaurants provide the food they want to eat.Past ExperiencesPeople can also associate anything with a past experience.A soundtrack that you listened during your travels might make you remember those relaxing moments whenever you hear the song again on the radio.The scent of a perfume similar to what you girlfriend worn during a memorable date can make y ou reminisce those sweet moments if you smell if again in the mall.Post-traumatic disorders is also a by-product of classical conditioning for people who experienced something traumatic such as a war or an accident.The anxiety produced by PTSD may occur if a soldier who returned from combat hears fireworks during Independence Day or New Year, even if they enjoyed it before experiencing combat. Some worse scenarios involve the soldier being enraged or hysterical when they hear fireworks.Classical Conditioning in School and WorkStrict teachers, bullying, and school policies can induce fear to children when they attend their classes.A strict teacher who hates noise can silence the whole class if she arrives inside the room. It’s because they might have experienced the teacher’s scolding or punishments when one or more of the students produced unnecessary noise during class.Workplaces can produce more disciplined employees by implementing strict compliance and attendance policies. F riendly work environments or a workmates close to you can induce a feeling or attraction and urge to become productive at work.Drug and Food IntakeDrugs can also cause a conditioned response to our bodies and minds depending on what we felt when we first tried the medicine.For example, a bad tasting medicine can induce vomiting the next time you take it again.Some extreme cases even induce vomiting when the patient hears the name of the drug. On a positive note, some patients may feel relaxed when they are about to intake a medicine that relieved the symptoms of their illness.The same conditional response also goes for food. A person who hates vegetables may feel disgusted upon seeing or even hearing it. But cravings and hunger may occur to a person when they hear about their favorite dish.There are numerous examples of classical conditioning used in our daily lives. The following mentioned above are the most commonly experienced events. For sure this will keep you conscious about c lassical conditioning whenever you experience one of the following applications.HOW CAN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IMPROVE OUR LIVESClassical conditioning can impact our lives positively or negatively.But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a choice in improving our lives using classical conditioning.Here are some nice tips that you can follow if you want to improve your life using the learning procedure:Breaking Bad HabitsYou can use classical conditioning in reversing your bad habits.For example, you can quit from smoking by diverting the way you spend cigarette smoking into saving money.So instead of going to a convenience store to purchase a pack, you will just place it on a piggy bank. If you condition yourself in saving money whenever you feel the urge to smoke, you may turn that into a saving habit whenever you have spare change on your wallet.Facing Your FearsFacing your fears can be temporarily or permanently be done when you have to face your fear often.A lot of experienc ed hikers say that mountain climbing can be the ultimate way to remove your fear of heights.At first, you just have to think about the fact that you need to go up and down the mountain because your hiking buddies are going to leave you behind. If you always think about that, you will focus more on the goal rather than your fears.With enough traveling to the mountains, you will soon realize that you’re more oriented towards your goals while not minding your fears anymore as your mind is finally conditioned in catching up with your buddies.Teaching Children The Right MannersEducating children the right manners nowadays is very crucial. Kids are growing smarter nowadays, and some of them can reason out with their parents.Conditioning your children by portraying good manners in exchange of your comfort and attention can be a good way. At first, your children will always comply just to get your attention and the rewards behind it.But eventually as they grow up, they will start performi ng good manners even if you occasionally give them rewards. It’s because your kids will start to think that doing the right manners grants them proper approach from other people.Training Your PetYou can train your pet in classical conditioning to perform a wide variety of tasks. Even pet tricks can be learned through classical conditioning.You just have to use the neutral stimulus as the objective or the task/trick that you want to train to your pet. Use food as the unconditioned stimulus just like what Pavlov did to his experiment.Do this for a few days to the point where your pet can perform the task just by ordering them to do it even without the food. To maintain the skill that you trained them to do, be sure to occasionally reward them with food.Becoming Good At WorkIf you’re a lazy person and you want to change for the best in your career life, classical conditioning can be your ally in becoming a committed professional.Use your drive to work as the neutral stimulus over a long-term goal that you want to attain (which will be the unconditioned stimulus).Short term goals are not applicable as it might give you the risk of inconsistency at being a good professional that will keep you from working hard for a long time until you become a hardworking person even if your goal is already accomplished.Now that’s a good mindset to consider!CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IS OUR EXPERIENCEWe should be thankful for Pavlov’s discovery as it helped us notice about the different responses that we can make based on certain scenarios. We can use this as an evolutionary tool in predicting the outcome of our actions.It can also be used as a way to treat negative traits such as addiction. Fears can also be analyzed by observing the neutral and unconditioned stimuli of our fear so then we can come with a solution to overcome it.If we can’t do it, always remember that physiologists are also there to aid us, especially now that you have an idea how classical conditioning wor ks.Classical conditioning isn’t just something that physiologists should understand. Even commoners who aren’t versed in the field of behavioral studies should understand the simply basics of this learning procedure. It’s one of the many things that helps us respond in the many events that can impact our lives.That’s why it’s worth learning about.

Essay Antigone And Ismene - 600 Words

Antigone and Ismene nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The personalities of the two sisters; Antigone and Ismene, are as different from one another as tempered steel is from a ball of cotton. One is hard and resistant; the other: pliable, absorbing and soft. Antigone would have been a strong, successful 90s type woman with her liberated and strong attitude towards her femininity, while Ismene seems to be a more dependent 1950s style woman. Antigone acts as a free spirit, a defiant individual, while Ismene is content to recognize her own limitations and her inferiority of being a woman. In the Greek tragedy quot;Antigonequot;, by Sophocles; Antigone learns that King Creon has refused to give a proper burial for the slain Polyneices,†¦show more content†¦Antigone, not happy with her sisters response chides her sister for not participating in her crime and for her passivity, saying, quot; Set your own life in orderquot;(346). For Antigone, no law could stand in the way of her strong consideration of her brothers spirit, not even the punishment of an early death. Ismene is more practical ; knowing the task is impossible, she feels the situation to be hopeless. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It is a wonder, which of the two sisters are really guilty of these chronic charges. Of coarse, Antigone acted so quickly, and failed to take the advice of the moderate sister, Ismene. Instead, going against Creons words, Antigone rashly goes ahead and breaks the law. Antigone is a fool, she must learn that such defiance, even when justified, is not conductive to longevity. Although Antigone is foolish, she is also courageous and motivated by her morals. Proper burial of the dead was, according to the Greeks, prerequisite for the souls entrance into a permanent home. Therefore, perhaps Ismene is also foolish for her quick refusal to help Antigone perform the duty of Polyneices proper burial. Ismene definitely seems hasty in her acceptance of personal weakness. Perhaps in some way, both sisters are guilty of the same tragic sins. Perhaps it is this rashness, more subdued in Ismenes case, that leads both sisters to their own destruction. To my surprise, there is a strange twist in bothShow MoreRelatedAntigone And Ismene Analysis925 Words   |  4 PagesAntigone, a play by Sophocles, contain the events that occur after the death of Oedipus. Oedipus’ death marked the ending of the preceding book, Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone, as reflected in the title, focuses on the life of Antigone, one of Oedipus’ daughters. Within the play, Antigone is faced with a major disagreement with her sister regarding the proper burial of their brother, Polyneices. Antigone and Ismene are characters that hold contrasting ideals and opinions in reference to the law ofRead MoreAntigone And Ismene Essay1635 Words   |  7 PagesDiscuss the differences between Antigone and Ismene in their views of women in society. How does each sister’s view shape the choices she makes in the play? How consistent is each, in her view? The play Antigone, written by Sophocles is the last book of his trilogy called The Oedipus Play of Sophocle. Antigone take places in the city of Thebes, the play open â€Å"some days later† there have been an edict by King Creon regarding the burials of Eteocles and Polyneices; Eteocles, will get a proper burialRead MoreIsmene And Antigone Essay1331 Words   |  6 Pagesto best demonstrate the stark difference between how society calls upon women to act and how a female hero should act. In Antigone, the two main characters, sisters Antigone and Ismene, are the two women being compared to each other. Ismene, the younger sister, acts as the conformist, never questioning the rules she is to live by and encouraging Antigone to do the same. Ismene illustrates her stance in the conversations she has with her older sibling in the opening act. Begging her sister not to goRead MoreThe Relationship Between Antigone And Ismene800 Words   |  4 Pages P.5 Antigone Questions 1-5 1. The relationship between Antigone and Ismene is close because they are both sisters but at the same time their relationship isn’t that strong. One of reasons they are foils to each other is because of their disagreement about burying the body of their brother Polyneices. Antigone already knows that she is willing to die to let her brother rest in peace but Ismene on the other isn’t on her side, instead she doesn’t want to help Antigone because she want toRead MoreEnter Antigone and Ismene from the Palace10899 Words   |  44 PagesAntigone Enter ANTIGONE and Ismene from the palace. ANTIGONE: Ismene, my dear sister through common blood, do you know of any evil from Oedipus Zeus will not perform on us who still live? For I have seen nothing—nothing painful, nothing mad or shameful or dishonorable—(5) that is not among your or my sorrows. And now what do they say? The general has just put an edict over the whole city. Have you heard it? Or have you avoided learning how our friends suffer the fate of foes?(10) Read MoreWomen in Ancient Greece1638 Words   |  7 PagesSophocles play Antigone encapsulates the conflict in Greek society between genuine and farcical democracy. Greeces patriarchal society excludes women from formal decision-making processes so that, in the case of Creon, leaders enact their own arbitrary rules. Creon refuses to listen to what Antigone has to say about her belief that her brother deserves a proper burial. His lack of compassion is exacerbated by his unequivocal misogyny. For instance, when his son Haemon sticks up for Antigone, Creon ridiculesRead MoreAnalysis Of Antigone By Sophocles879 Words   |  4 PagesIn Sophocles’s Antigone, which centrals around themes such as bravery in the face of death, civil unrest, and unyielding dedication to divine justice, it is easy to understand how Ismene’s character is often called cowardly, docile, and indecisive. However, if one were to take away Antigone as a comparison, Ismene may appear in a different light. She survived her tragic upbringing through rational thought and a sort of optimism that others will do the same, while still managing to keep her love forRead MoreThe Prologue Of Antigone899 Words   |  4 PagesThis passage is an excerpt from the prologue of ‘Antigone’, an Ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles. In this scene, Antigone is trying to convince her sister, Ismene, to help her bury their brother, Polynices. 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The citizens were meant to learn from the mistakes made in tragedies. They should have learned what not to be like as a citizen or human. In the classic tragedy Antigone, the third and final play in Sophocles ¹s Oedipus Cycle, there are two main characters, Antigone and Creon. They are both strong willed and stubborn people

Lord Randalls Anonymous Folk Ballad

The folk ballad Lord Randall is an example of an Anglo-Scottish border ballad. These songs were sung acapella  and  often had repeating lines. History of the Ballad Sir Walter Scott collected border ballads and published them in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, published in three volumes from 1802 to 1803. Scott is known for his 1805 poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel, which brought him to literary fame. He was offered the position of Poet Laureate in 1813 but declined. Lord Randall tells the tale of a noble young man who has been poisoned by his lover. He comes home to his mother and complains that he is fatigued and only wants to lie down on his bed. He repeatedly pleads with his mother to make his bed so he can finally rest. His mother repeatedly questions him on what he has been doing and teases the story out of him. He has been poisoned by his false-hearted lover, and he bequeaths his belongings and treasures to his siblings. The structure of the song is reminiscent of the nursery rhyme Billy Boy, but instead of the hero being poisoned by the young lady, he bakes her a pie and decides she is too young to leave her mother. It also is mirrored in the campfire song, Green and Yellow. The song is a source for many  modern artists and authors. Bob Dylan used it as the basis of A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall. Many artists have covered the folk ballad on their albums and releases. The Lord Randall Anonymous Traditional Folk Ballad â€Å"O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?And where ha you been, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down.†An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?An wha met you there, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m wearied wi huntin, an fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?And what did she give you, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m wearied with huntin, and fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"And wha gat your leavins, Lord Randal, my son?And what gat your leavins, my handsom young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"And what becam of them, Lord Randall, my son?And what became of them, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å "They stretched their legs out an died; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!†Ã¢â‚¬Å"O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.â€Å"What d’ ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?What d’ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What d’ ye leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?What d’ ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"My gold and my silver; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m sick at the heart, an I fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What d’ ye leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?What d’ ye leave to your brother, my handsome young man?†Ã¢ €Å"My house and my lands; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"What d’ ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?What d’ ye leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I leave her hell and fire; mother, mak my bed soon,For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.†

Working Capital and Profitability In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Free Essays

Introduction: The working capital management plays an important role, for success or failure of Firm in business because of its effect on firms’ profitability as well on liquidity. Working capital management is about the management of current assets and current liabilities, in such a way that a satisfactory level of working capital which maximizes the profits of the firm is maintained. The basic theme of working capital management is to provide adequate support for smooth and efficient functioning of normal day-to-day business operations, by striking a trade-off between the three proportions of working capital they are liquidity, profitability and risk. We will write a custom essay sample on Working Capital and Profitability: In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the present environment of cut throat competition business does not have any other alternative, than cutting the cost of its operations in order to be competitive, as well as financially strong; it is in this connection that effective management of working capital plays a vital role. According to Mallik et al.,( 2005 , p. 51) â€Å"a great deal of controversy exists, over the issue as to whether the working capital of a firm as determined by its financing and investment decisions affects its profitability or not†. On this issue, academicians are sharply divided into two schools of thought, according to one school of thought â€Å"working capital is not a factor of improving profitability and there may be a negative relationship between them†. Where as the other school of thought argues that investment in working capital, plays a vital role to improve â€Å"corporate profitability† and unless there is a minimum level of investment of working capital â€Å"output and sales† cannot be maintained, they argue that inadequacy of working capital keeps fixed asset inoperative. Apparently a large number of considerations, play a vital role in the development of arguments and counter arguments in this regard: against the backdrop of this academic debate an attempt has been made in this study to† evaluate the interrelationship between working capital management and profitability of 10 selected pharmaceutical companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry during the period from 2000 to 2010†. There are a lot of reasons for the importance of working capital management, for a typical manufacturing firm. The current assets account for over half of its total asset and for a distribution company they account for even more. Excessive levels of current assets can easily result in firms realizing a substandard return on investment. However Van Horne and Wachowicz (2004) points out that â€Å"excessive level of current assets, may have a negative effect of a firm’s profitability where as a low level of current assets may lead to lowers of liquidity ,and stock-outs resulting in difficulties in maintaining smooth operations†. The Indian pharmaceutical industry The Indian pharmaceutical industry is a successful high technology industry with Consistent growth over three decades. It has developed the capability to ensure National, self sufficiency in addressing health care requirements and its export ability makes it a planned trade sector, the industry exports generic drugsincluding those into the highly regulated US and European markets. The industry is characterized by a low degree of concentration, a low level of research and development (RD) intensity with a high level of brand abundance. Incentives for innovation have been damaged by, the low purchasing capability of the domestic market along with the ease of, simulation and horizontal product differentiation features representative of industries behind the technological boundary. Presently, the Indian pharmaceutical market ranks 4th in volume and 13th in value In the world, production value is estimated at around $4.5 billion with about 5 million direct and 24 million indirect workers. There are two types of firm operate. One is organized sector firms and informal sector firms, the number of pharmaceutical firms are estimated, to be between 20000 and 23000 of which about 3000 are in the organized sector. Of the latter about 90 percent are small scale firms that are with a capital of less than $1.25 million (Kale et al., 2008). On the whole the industry represents a successful case of indigenous, self contingent development aided by weak regulatory framework. Purpose of the Study The earlier segment shows that, the studies carried out in the area of relationship between â€Å"working capital and profitability† are conflicting in nature. In fact the Interrelationship between working capital and profitability is still a debatable Issue, furthermore only a few studies (Mallik et al., 2005 and Parasuraman, 2004) on pharmaceutical industry in connection with examining, the relationship between working capital and profitability have been, carried out in India in the recent past. Whereas the Indian pharmaceutical industry is playing a vital role in improving average life expectancy; The signing of GATT (known as WTO) has injected a series of changes in the industry. Against this backdrop the Indian Pharmaceutical industry has been chosen in the present study. Objectives This study has the following objectives; 1) To assess the significance of working capital on profitability by computing coefficient of correlation and also test the significance of such a correlation. 2) To Study the impact of working capital and profitability by important parameters like Profit before Interest and Tax Margin (PBITM) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). 3) To evaluate the joint effect of the selected ratios relating to working capital management on the profitability. 4) To study the working capital and profitability position in selected sample companies 5) Conclusions and suggestions for the better utilization of resources related to working capital and profitability. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Since, the literature related to the relationship between working capital management and profitability is wide in nature and scope. The most important literature found in the form of, popular write ups published or unpublished research studies (both empirical and conceptual) and articles of researchers are reviewed in this section. A deeper look into the assessment indicates that there are only, a few studies available abroad and plentiful of studies in India. An Empirical Analysis of â€Å"Working Capital and Profitability† and their Relationship with Reference to Selected Companies in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. (Janakiramudu and Rao, 2008, p. 163) has identified a positive relationship Evaluating the association between working capital turnover and profitability in the Indian cement, sugar and fertilizer industries. Another identical study on this issue conducted by Mukherjee (1988) concluded that as a whole, the liquidity and profitability were adversely correlated. Jain (1988) in his study among 10 manufacturing, trading and service industries of Rajasthan recommended, that the companies should avoid under investment in working capital if they wanted higher profit margins. Panda and Satapathy (1988) conducted a research work regarding the effects of working capital on profitability and revealed that the positive influence of working capital on profitability of the selected companies was highly important. Vijayakumar and Venkatachalam (1995) carried out an empirical study on the interrelationship between working Capital management and profitability. The study conducted on 31 sugar companies in Tamil Nadu concluded that liquidity was negatively associated with profitability, whereas the inventory turnover and debtors’ turnover had a positive influence on profitability. Smith and Beaumont (1997) who conducted their work on the industrial firms listed, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) indicated that a decrease in the total current liabilities, divided by gross funds flow led to an improvement in return on investment and vice versa. Mallik and Sur (1998) made an attempt to analyze the influence of working capital management on profitability in the Indian tea industry. The study on the inter-relation among the nine selected ratios in the area of working capital management and the selected profitability measure disclosed both negative and positive associations. Rao and Rao (1999) also undertook a similar type of study in which 10 ratios relating to working capital management were selected; out of the 10 indicators only in three a positive association with profitability was observed. Mallik and Sur (1999) undertook another study on working capital management of a well-known fast-moving consumer goods company and noticed a very high degree of posi tive relationship between liquidity and profitability. Another work carried out by Sivarama (1999) on working capital management in the Indian paper industry ,disclosed a close relationship between profitability and working capital efficiency. Dutta (2000) in his work on working capital management of horti-culture industry in Himachal Pradesh found out that, despite suffering huge losses the firm was holding huge idle inventories and hence miserably failed to trade off between liquidity and profitability. Harinath (personal communication) in his study on working capital management, in small-scale industries of Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh suggested that in order to enhance the profitability industries should adopt effective working capital management. An article published in Treasury and Risk Management (2001) revealed that establishment of proper relationship between safety and liquidity in asset management would yield high return. Sur et al. (2001) conducted a study on the Indian primary aluminum producing industry in the private sector, and observed a very significant positive association between liquidity and profitability. Ghosh and Maji (2003) made an empirical study on the relationship between utilization of current assets and operating profitability in the Indian cement and tea industry. The study concluded that â€Å"The degree of utilization of current assets was positively associated with the operating profitability of all the companies under study†. The study carried out by Parasuraman (2004) inferred that top pharmacy companies strategies, on their working capital policy to relax the credit policy to achieve greater sales and greater profits. Besides this he also observed, that leading companies have employed greater working capital for improving profitability. Narware (2004) in his study noticed that out of nine indicators representing ,working capital management selected for his study three variables were negatively associated with the selected profitability measure. Whereas the remaining six indicators of working capital management were positively associated with profitability. A study by Bardia (2004) in a Navaratna steel manufacturing public sector enterprise, reported a favorable influence of the liquidity of the company on its profitability. Mallik et al. (2005) carried out a study on the relationship between working capital and profitability with reference to selected companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and noticed, that the joint influence of the liquidity inventory management and credit management on the profitability were statistically very significant in nine out of 17 pharmaceutical companies selected for the study. Deloof (2003) investigated the relationship between working capital management and corporate profitability, for a sample of 1009 large Belgian non-financial firms for the 1992-1996 periods. The result from analysis showed that there was a negative between profitability that was measured by gross operating income and cash conversion cycle as well number of days accounts receivable and inventories. He recommended that, managers can increase corporate profitability by reducing the number of days accounts receivable and inventories, less profitable firms waited longer to pay their bills. Singh and Pandey (2008) had an attempt to study the working capital components and the impact of, working capital management on profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited for period from1990 to 2007. Results of the study showed that current ratio, liquid ratio, receivables turnover ratio and working capital to total assets ratio had statistically, significant impact on the profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited. Growth of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry: Pharmaceutical companies in India are growing at a very fast pace and this has made the Indian pharmaceutical industry as the second largest growing industry. Also the pharmaceutical industry in India is the third largest in the world, which will be of US$20 billion by 2015. Mergers and acquisitions are the part of this growth. The compounded annual growth rate of pharma in India is 12-15% and the global figures are 4-7% for the period of 2008-2013. With such a profound growth of pharmaceutical companies in India numerous pharmaceutical jobs can be seen. This in turn is helping biotechnology industry and booming the biotechnology jobs in India. Angel Broking has done a research on the growth of pharmaceutical industry and found that by 2015 the pharmaceutical industry in India will be in the top 10 markets. Yet another finding of FICCI-Ernst Young study reveals that the population of high income group in India is rising which will give rise to more influx of MNCs and expensive drugs. (Source: Ezine Articles.com 2nd jan 2011). Pharmaceutical companies along with native companies are also competing with the top MNCs. Such a profound growth is because of the heavy population figures and with the increasing number of middle class people and their income the access to drugs and medicines is also increasing. But still the low-priced generics are popular in Indian pharmaceutical industry. From India in year 2007-08 total of US$ 8.25 billion were exported and there was seen 29% rise in this figure in 2009. MR Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce said that pharmaceutical sector in India has grown and it is the major contributor to exports from India. In 1990 the amount was meager as compare to today’s massive figures. Vital Information on Pharmaceutical Companies in India In terms of volume – India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the entire world. In terms of value – India’s pharmaceutical industry ranks fourteenth By 2015 – It will be in the list of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets and it will touch US $ 20 billion. 2008-2009 – Saw 29% growth in exports of pharmaceutical drugs as compared to 2007 2013 – Indian formulation market is expected to touch US$ 13.7 billion India has a strong pharmaceutical market, which results in the existence of a number of top bracket pharma companies. Despite the great recession, the sales in the Indian pharma industry went up by 18.4% in March 2009. According to the recent McKinsey report (November 30, 2009), the industry will touch $40 billion mark by 2015. Following are the top pharma companies in India: Indian top 10 pharamaceutical companies SL.NO NAMEYEAR CRORE BILLION 1 RANBAXY2009 4.198.96 41.989 2 DR.REDDY LABORATIOES LTD2009 4.162.25 41.622 3 CIPLA2009 3.763.72 37.637 4 SUN PHARMA INDUSTRIES2009 2.463.59 24.635 5 LUPINS LABS2009 2.215.52 22.155 6 AUROBINDO PHARMA2009 2.080.19 20.801 7 GLAXO SMITHKLINE PHARMA2009 1.773.41 17.734 8 CADILA HEALTH CARE2009 1.61.300 16.13 9 AVENTIES PHARMA2009 983.8 9.838 10 IPCA LABORATIES2009 980.44 9.804 Source:( docstoc.com â€Å"working capital management practiced in pharmaceutical companies† 4th jan 2011). Research Methodology This element describes the research designs and methods of data collection. The issue surrounding which methods to choose while conducting research has been debated among researchers. Introduction The method in which a research is conducted may be determined in terms of research instruments utilised to achieve the research objectives and the quest for the solution of the research question. Therefore, Research methodology can be better understood with the help of the model known as ‘The Research Onion Model’ – (Saunders et al., 2009). The model was named after onion because the model had six layers , from one to six, which represents the philosophies , research approaches, the research strategies, choice of methods, time horizons, techniques and procedures respectively. The term research philosophy relates to the development of knowledge and the nature of that knowledge (Saunders et al, 2003. p 107). The research philosophy adopted should contain important assumptions, these assumptions then underpins research strategy and the methods chosen as part of the strategy. Types of research philosophies those are available to choose from, when one comes to the question of choosing the best research philosophy for a research. Positivism, pragmatism, realism and interpretive (Saunders, 2003). Quantitative and Qualitative Quantitative techniques provide quick and clear result since they can be analysed using statistical procedure. This method is appropriate where variables can be measured quantitatively and hypotheses can be tested (Brannen, 1992). In quantitative method participants usually response to the identical closed-ended questions and the relationship between participant and researcher is often formal than in qualitative, as a result, respondents can not provide their own opinion, ideas and views. Where as qualitative method allows greater spontaneity and adaptation of the interaction between researcher and participants (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). The great strength of qualitative research is validity of the data obtained. Participants are interviewed and they may give responses which are true, correct and complete, and believable based on their views and experiences (Goldman and Mc Donald, 1987). Positivism and Interpretivism: If the research philosophy reflects positivism then it will probably adopt the philosophical stance of natural scientist. The basis for this philosophy is to collect the data which are likely to use existing theory to develop hypotheses; then these hypotheses will be tested and confirmed. It is often advocated that the positivist researcher will use a highly structured methodology in order to facilitate replication. (Saunders et al., 2006), Interpretive entails that it is very important for the researcher to understand the role of human as social actors. The heritage of this strand of interpretivism comes from two intellectual traditions: phenomenology and symbolic interactions. Phenomenology means the way how humans make sense of the world; and symbolic interactions means a process of interpreting the social world around us in the sense that we interpret others’ action with whom we interact and this interpretation leads to adjustment of our own meaning (Saunders et al., 2006) . Deductive and Inductive Deduction is a dominant research approach in natural sciences, where laws are the basis of explanation, allow the anticipation of phenomena, predict their occurrence and then permit them to be controlled (Collis and Hursey, 2003 cited by Saunders et al., 2006). It is a highly structured approach which is based on the collection of quantitative data. Induction on the other hand is based on the collection of qualitative data and is a more flexible structure to permit changes. Inductive approach is a close understanding of the research context and also understanding of the meanings how humans are attached to the events (Saunders et al., 2006). Tools available for conducting a research Triangulation and Mixed method Triangulation is the mixing of data or method so that divers view point or stand points cast light upon a topic. The logic behind the application of triangulation method is that, it is a combination of both qualitative methods and quantitative methods which examine the same research problem by using different approaches and cross-checking the same problems which would result in consistent and integrated data (Greene et al, 1989). The most efficient use of both quantitative and qualitative paradigms is to combine them in a single study (Brewer, 1989). Multi-method research requires more and different kind of information to solve research problems than any single method, and therefore is likely to provide better solution (Greene et al., 1989).Mixing the use of survey data and interview is more profound form of triangulation. Mixed method is when both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in a research because it is believe that it provides more perspectives on the phenomena bei ng investigated. However, sometimes the data gotten from the different methods about the same phenomena are in direct opposition. (Easterby -Smith et al., 2002). Longitudinal and Cross-selecion Cross- sectional designs usually involve selecting different organisations or units in different context, and investigating how other factors vary across these units. A key problem here is in deciding how large the sample of organisation needs to be in order to be adequately representative. Cross-sectional designs particularly where there are questionnaires and survey techniques; it has the ability to describe economically features of large number of people or organisations (Easterby-Smith et al 2002). Longitudinal designs focuses on small number of organisations over a long period of time. It is recommended that research should focus on change processes within the broader social, economic and political context surrounding each organisation, and should gather ‘time series data’ over a period of time significantly longer than the immediate focus. In this way explanation should emerge from examining pattern in the process of change (Pettigrew, 1985 cited by Easterby-Smith et al., 2002) Selection of the research approach Due to the nature of research, which deals with people, technology and the society, Analytical surveys and experimental research design methods will be employed to carry out the research. According to Saunders et al., (2003) deductive research (emphasised) scientific principles; moving from the theory to data; the need to explain casual relationship between variables; the collection of quantitative data; a highly structure approach and the necessity to select samples of sufficient size in order to generate conclusions among others. This research targets selected companies in Indian pharmaceutical industry. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods will be followed for the study. This study needs a close contact with the respondents to understand their experience, ideas and insight, and for that reason qualitative research is more appropriate and for the economical and social aspect quantitative aspect is more helpful. The techniques of qualitative methods such as: observations, and in-depth interviewing helps to understand the nature of participants’ and behaviour. Selection of the study area The study will follow two stage sampling method; the Pharmaceutical institutions in the first stage and beneficiaries the next stage. Selection of the organizations Inside this study 10 recognized companies belonging to the private sector have been selected. It is considered that these institutions with acceptable coverage would be most suitable for the purpose of the study. The amount of relationship between working capital management and profitability has been assessed through correlation coefficients between the selected measures of working capital management and profitability. However, because of time and fund constraints some pharma institutions may be purposively selected for the study. Which will help in for studying the joint influence of the selected procedures relating to the indicators of working capital management on the profitability multiple correlation and multiple regression techniques, have been applied. Taking into account their magnitudes (by Pearson’s simple correlation coefficient), ranking of their magnitudes ( by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient), and the nature of their associated changes ( by Kenda ll’s correlation coefficient). Sources of Data The data for the study will be collected both from primary and secondary data. Secondary sources The data will be collected from secondary sources consulting various documents such as annual reports, booklets, journals, periodicals and so on. Furthermore, various government reports, such as Capitaline Corporate Database and the Official Database of Capital Market Publishers (India) Ltd. Mumbai. Primary sources For the remaining objectives, data will be collected from a carefully designed sample survey. At least two sets of questionnaires will be prepared for the survey – one for the pharma institutions and another for the beneficiaries. Method of Data Analysis Simple tabulation technique will be used in the study to classify the data into meaningful categories. Simple simple correlation coefficient,, ratios and percentages in the study will be used. Moreover, multiple regression analysis will be done. In order to make an effective impact and examine whether the computed values of correlation coefficients and partial regression coefficients are, statistically significant or not t-test has been used, and the multiple correlation coefficients have been tested by F-test as well as before-after comparison will be employed in the study Vital Information on Pharmaceutical Companies in India In terms of volume – India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the entire world. In terms of value – India’s pharmaceutical industry ranks fourteenth By 2015 – It will be in the list of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets and it will touch US $ 20 billion. 2009-2010 – Saw 29% growth in exports of pharmaceutical drugs as compared to 2008 2013 – Indian formulation market is expected to touch US$ 13.7 billion India has a strong pharmaceutical market, which results in the existence of a number of top bracket pharma companies. Despite the great recession, the sales in the Indian pharma industry went up by 18.4% in March 2009. According to the recent McKinsey report (November 30, 2009), the industry will touch $40 billion mark by 2015. Following are the top pharma companies in India: Research Objectives This study has the following objectives; 6)To assess the significance of working capital on profitability by computing coefficient of correlation and also test the significance of such a correlation. 7)To Study the impact of working capital and profitability by important parameters like Profit before Interest and Tax Margin (PBITM) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). 8)To evaluate the joint effect of the selected ratios relating to working capital management on the profitability. 9)To study the working capital and profitability position in selected sample companies 10) Conclusions and suggestions for the better utilization of resources related to working capital and profitability. Conclusion Pharmaceutical industry in INDIA is a profitable sector. It is due to the reason that the firms in the industry are very competitive and has gained efficiency in managing its resources competently. The impact of overall working capital policy on profitability in this industry is proved to be significant and the ratios related to working capital can explain the differerences between the firms. A positive correlation has been found in the mathematical model, between current assent management and financial performance of pharmaceutical firms. Thus it is evident that for the overall performance of this industry, working capital plays a vital role. How to cite Working Capital and Profitability: In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, Essay examples

Stone Hedge Essays - Wiltshire, Stonehenge, Henges,

Stone Hedge Stone Hedge is a very complicated structure witch is located in England. It has many myths, legends, and questions surrounding its uses and origin. In this report it goes over the probabilities for the uses of Stone Hedge. Also it gives reasons why or why not it could have been used for that reason. Plus it gives a brief history about when and who built it. Stone Hedge is an elaborate circular formation mainly large blue stone and tertiary sandstone. It is located about eight miles north of Sabsbury, Witshire witch is in England. The outer ring of fifty-six stone holes is known as the Aubrey holes. These rings have holes were stones once where but have disappeared. "Each hole is about four feet deep and about six feet in diameter. These stones and the Heel stone where constructed around 1800b.c. in the Late Neolithic period." "Excavations between 1940 and 1961 suggested that Stonehenge was not built all at once but in three stages. These are Stonehenge I, II, and III. The third is broken down into three parts these are IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc." The first stones put into place where the Aubery stone and the Heel stone. Also built with these was a large mound of dirt around the out side of the Aubery stones. This circle has a diameter of three hundred twenty feet. It has one opening of thirty-five feet wide in the northeast side facing the Heel stone. There are many different ideas as to why Stone Hendge was constructed, such as a solar temple, a lunar observatory, a place of healing and others witch is not based on scientific evidence such as a landing place for alien space craft. There have been many different excavations trying to solve the mystery about Stone Hendge. Some of the biggest questions are why and how did these people move these huge rocks, some of witch are sixteen feet high and weigh around thirty five tons, miles to put them in a circle. Put the most likely reason, in my view, is for a place of healing. "Testing done during the "Dragon project" reveled that the stones have a strange magnetic field around them." This points to Stone Hendge being used for a place of healing. For centuries people that have had broken and \ or fractured bones have visited Stone Hendge and it was increased there rate of healing. Also, modern medical science is using Electro magnetics to treat many broken bones, and other injuries and illnesses. Plus there have been flaws in the line up of the stones and stars. This suggests that it is most likely not a lunar observatory as once thought, but Stone Hendge also could be a place of worship seeing as though it was built before Christ's birth. Also seeing that it was built by many different people at many different times, most likely could have had many different uses. Because of this we may never be sure exactly what Stonehenge was used for. We can only really guess but from all of the evidence collected from years past we have a pretty good idea what it most likely was used for. Of the about two hundred place for stones only fifty-five stones remain standing today. There are also many other stones and areas for the stones that have been named other than the Aubrey Holes. One example of this is the Y and Z holes. Although neither of the rings is any longer visible excavations revealed that stones were there. The Y holes are a ring of holes about sixty feet inside the Aubrey holes. This ring consists of thirty stone holes. Although none of the stones are still there the holes in the ground suggest that there were stones there. The Z holes are about eighty feet inside the Aubrey holes. This ring has twenty-nine stone holes. Like the Y holes none of these are still standing but the holes in the ground suggest that stones where there once. Some of the individual stones have been named. These are the Heel stone, Slaughter stone, Altar stone, and two station stones. The station stones are just inside the dirt wall that surrounds Stonehenge. One is on the northwest side and the other is on the southeast side. The Altar stone is a large stone placed near the middle of the large circle. It is surrounded by two u formations of stones. One small than a larger one followed by two more circles then the

Spanish Infinitives and How Theyre Used

Spanish Infinitives and How Theyre Used Definition of 'Infinitive' The infinitive is the most basic form of a verb. In Spanish, infinitives always end in -ar, -er or -ir, with -ar being the most common. In English, infinitive is usually used to refer to the to verb form of the verb such as to run or to eat, although according to some authorities the infinitives are run and eat. An infinitive by itself does not indicate tense nor who or what is performing the action of the verb. In both English and Spanish, the infinitive can often function as a noun. In Spanish, such a noun is always masculine and is usually used in the singular form. The Spanish word for infinitive is infinitivo. Other examples of infinitives in Spanish are hablar, viajar, comprender, and resistir. The corresponding English infinitives are to speak, to travel, to understand, and to resist. Using Infinitives as the Subject of a Sentence It is very common in Spanish for an infinitive to be the subject of a sentence or clause. In translation to English, either the infinitive or the gerund can be used, although Spanish gerunds cant function as nouns. For example, the sentence Salir es difà ­cil could be translated as either To leave is difficult or Leaving is difficult. Often when an infinitive is the subject, it can follow the verb. Thus it would be possible to render the Spanish sentence as Es difà ­cil salir. Amar is mejor que ser amado. (To love is better than being loved.)No es posible comer todo el dà ­a de manera saludable. (Eating all day is not possible in a healthy way. Alternative translation: It is not possible to eat all day in a healthy way.)El ser humano comparte muchas caracterà ­sticas con los primates. (The human being shares many characteristics with the primates.) Using Infinitives as Prepositional Objects In Spanish but not usually in English, infinitives are often the objects of prepositions. The gerund is typically used in translation to English. Tu hija no tiene ya la capacidad para entender tus reglas. (Your daughter doesnt yet have the capacity for understanding your rules. Para is the preposition here.)El tenista confirmà ³ que le ofrecieron dinero por perder un partido. (The tennis player confirmed that they offered him money for losing a match. The preposition here is por.) Using Infinitives as a Verbal Object In a sentence such as Espero comprar una casa (I hope to buy a house), the infinitive in both language retains qualities of both noun and verb - noun because its an object and a verb because it has  an object of its own (una casa or a house). Ayer te vi salir de tu oficina. (Yesterday I saw you leaving your office.)Necesito cambiar el nombre de usuario. (I need to change my user name.)Quiero comer  pronto. (I want to eat soon.) Using Infinitives as a Verbal Complement Infinitives are often used as the complement of a copulative or linking verb: This is especially common with forms of ser, meaning to be. Lo ms importante es saber que usted no ests sola. (The most important thing is to know you are not alone.)Todo lo que yo querà ­a era hablar contigo. (All that I wanted was to talk with you.)Katarina me parece ser una buen artista. (Katarina seems to me to be a good artist.) Infinitives as Commands In Spanish, it is common in recipes and on signs, less so in speech, to use an infinitive as a type of command. Such a construction is rare in English with the exception of this negative command: Not to worry. Mezclar los ingredientes en el siguiente orden. (Mix the ingredients in the following order.)No fumar. (No smoking.) Forming a Future Tense Using Infinitives The periphrastic future tense is common in both Spanish and English. It is formed by using a present tense of ir a or to go followed by an infinitive. In some Spanish-speaking areas, the periphrastic future has mostly replaced the conjugated future tense. In both languages, it is considered less formal than the standard future tense. Van a estudiar las principales teorà ­as. (They are going to study the principal theories.)Voy a probarlo una vez. (Im going to try it once.)

SAT Subject Test Dates 2015 - 2016 How to Choose

SAT Subject Test Dates 2015 - 2016 How to Choose SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re planning on applying to highly selective colleges, you may be required to take two or three SAT Subject Tests. Subject Tests are offered almost as many times throughout the year as the regular SAT. In this article, I’ll go through the dates and registration deadlines and give you lists of the subjects that are offered on each date. SAT Subject Test Dates: 2015-16 SAT Subject Tests are offered on five of the six regular SAT test dates coming up during this school year (the regular SAT test date in March will not offer SAT Subject Tests).Here are the dates and registration deadlines: SAT Subject Test Date Normal Registration Deadline Late Registration Deadline November 7, 2015 October 9, 2015 October 27, 2015 December 5, 2015 November 5, 2015 November 23, 2015 January 23, 2016 December 28, 2015 January 12, 2016 May 7, 2016 April 8, 2016 April 26, 2016 June 4, 2016 May 5, 2016 May 25, 2016 Keep in mind that not all subject tests are offered on each of these dates.This chart lists all the SAT Subject Tests and whether they will be offered on each of the five test dates during this school year.The most popular tests, like Biology and Math 1 and 2, are offered on all dates. Subject Test Nov. 7, 2015 Dec. 5, 2015 Jan. 23, 2016 May 7, 2016 Jun. 4, 2016 Biology E/M âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Chemistry âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Physics âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Math 1 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Math 2 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Literature âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ US History âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ World History âÅ"“ âÅ"“ French âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ German âÅ"“ Spanish âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Modern Hebrew âÅ"“ Italian âÅ"“ Latin âÅ"“ âÅ"“ French with Listening âÅ"“ German with Listening âÅ"“ Spanish with Listening âÅ"“ Chinese with Listening âÅ"“ Japanese with Listening âÅ"“ Korean with Listening âÅ"“ Here's another table with a different organization that may make it easier for you to see which tests are offered on each date. I only included the subject tests that are offered on some dates but not all. Biology E/M, Chemistry, Physics, Math 1, Math 2, Literature and US History are offered on all test dates, so they are not included in this chart: Test Date World History French German Spanish Modern Hebrew Italian Latin Nov. 7, 2015 Dec. 5, 2015 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Jan. 23, 2016 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ May 7, 2016 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Jun. 4, 2016 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Test Date French with Listening German with Listening Spanish with Listening Chinese with Listening Japanese with Listening Korean with Listening Nov. 7, 2015 âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ âÅ"“ Dec. 5, 2015 Jan. 23, 2016 May 7, 2016 Jun. 4, 2016 Which Test Date Should You Choose? If you know you have to take subject tests, it’s important to plan strategically.You should make sure that you take your subject tests on a date that doesn’t conflict with other major commitments.Plan on taking subject tests at a much earlier or later date than the regular SAT so that you have time to study for both and don’t end up with low scores on either. May and June are usually good SAT subject test datesbecause they’re at the end of the school year, so you will be at your maximum level of knowledge for the subjects (assuming you took the relevant class this year). Rememberthat you don’t have to wait until your junior year to take subject tests.If you take a class sophomore year that directly pertains to one of the subject tests, you can go ahead and take the test at the end of that school year.Taking subject tests while the material is still fresh in your mind is the best way to avoid long hours of studying.Some tests, like many of the language tests, are not offered in the spring, so make sure you verify that you can take your chosen test on the date that interests you. You should also note that you can take up to three subject tests on one test date (although only one listening subject test is allowed per test date).Each subject test is an hour long, so even if you take three tests in one day you won’t spend as much time at the test center as you would for the regular SAT. You may not need to take three tests; the number depends on the requirements of the colleges where you plan on applying. Most selective schools only require students to take two subject tests.If you're taking two subject tests on one test date, you should try to choose them wisely so that they pair well together. For example, if you need to take Math 2 and math is a tough subject for you, you should choose a second subject test in an area where you feel more comfortable so you can balance out your stress levels. Don't go too far down Stress Street or you won't be able to get back to Relaxation Road. Relaxation Road: the name of my debut ambient chill album. What's Next? Are you wondering what scores you should aim for on SAT Subject Tests? Learn more about what a good score might mean for you. You may have heard that some SAT Subject Tests are easier than others. Find out which tests are the easiest and why. If you're worried about time pressure on subject tests, check out this article that describes the length and format of each test and how you can overcome issues with time. Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

IDEO case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IDEO case study - Essay Example And the project manager would ensure their concepts could be achieved within budget and timeline. Set up large â€Å"Tech Box†, contain the curiosities and interesting gadgets to inspire innovator. Designers could rummage through the stuffs and play with the switch, bottom on them. This motivates their creativity of putting the old things in new use. Built the culture that â€Å"High performing employees were rewarded by being given more challenging projects to lead† , this way encourage them to contribute more in every project as they always have the chance of being group leader once they have high ability. Organizational culture is an essential tool for innovation in any business setting. Consequently, it is true that in order to innovate there is a need to invest in building a strong culture that gives the right atmosphere to the employees and management to get involved. Mutual helping in workplace is a crucial aspect that foresees the success of businesses that depend on creativity in executing all the underlying projects. Encouraging-business culture enables workload sharing and collaborative help coming to the fore; lending expertise, experience and perspective that improve the quality and the execution techniques of different innovation ideas. For instance, IDEO has proved to have achieved a more impressive business culture. The IDEO’s culture has been able to build a help-friendly environment within its premises. The firm has employed more than 300 employees al with engineering educational backgrounds including its founder. The number is sufficient in the execution process of different processes within the stipulated budgets and timeframe. Additionally, as the firm deals with technical products they have introduced employee-customer interaction meeting to ensure their customers are satisfied. Such an aspect allows for acquisition of feedback from the product user, an aspect that is crucial for innovation and product improvement

Is a Publicly Funded Transit System Reasonable Essay

Is a Publicly Funded Transit System Reasonable - Essay Example The essay "Is a Publicly Funded Transit System Reasonable?" talks about a transport agency Toronto Transit Commission which operates streetcars, rapid transit, and transit bus services in Canada, Ontario and Toronto. It is the quickest and most convenient way to get into Toronto. Currently, the public sector runs this commission. As much as many people may prefer running institutions privately, public good funded systems are better managed. Public or common good as defined by John Rawls as a general condition that is equally advantageous to everyone. By using public good, affordable and accessible services are available to both workers and consumers of the service. It also promotes a political and just legal system in the country. Public good in a transport system actively creates a better environment that may be defined, creates justice, and a liberal, fair social infrastructure that permits the pursuit of virtue. Publicly funded transit system provides competitive advantages. An ar gument for the public good in the transport system is based on the philosophy of John Rawls of Justice is fairness. Any person participating in a practice or is affected by it poses an equal right to a more general liberty compatible with liberty for all. Inequality is arbitrary unless it is illogical to expect that it will work out as an advantage to everyone, and provided the offices and positions to which it attaches is open to all. It is always a right of any person in Toronto to get access to inalienable good public transportation.

Modern Communication Technology And Acculturation Of Children Education Essay

Modern Communication Technology And Acculturation Of Children Education Essay Over the last several years, as new waves of African immigrants and their children have continued to enter the United States, researchers have considered the impact of semiotics of modern communication networks and technologies on acculturation and cultural identity, as well as the effects of immigration on the nations economy and society. However, the way immigrant children adapt to American values by using social networks and technologies has been mostly ignored. McDonnell Hill (2008) explained that children entering the United States today represent a particularly diverse range of cultures, and most importantly, some have had little or no formal education in their native countries. Little is known about how cultural conflicts evolved from the use of these technologies and became integrated into core American values in communications, behavioral skills, attitudes and finally understand the norms of American society and the cultural semiotics that are prevalent. Another overlooked factor is generally the impact the act of using modern communication technology has on the adaptation process and the psychological consequences that emerge as these new young African immigrants learn a new culture, new social norms and values, and most importantly, a new cultural language. Relevance of this research Kristin McCarthy (2010) confirms that immigration and the subsequent acculturation process results in enormous stress for children. McCarthy (2010) clarified how experts agree that being connected and accepted is an important component of adolescent development, and the inability to have this connection and behave as Americans could result in an increased risk of depression, suicide, bullying, alienation, school failures and drop-outs. Failure to connect could also lead to misinterpretation of societal values leading to criminal activities. Most importantly, the language barrier may bring about rejection from the society. Redfield, Linton Herskovits (1936) showed that there is growing attention on the role of acculturation, the complex process of change that individuals experience as a result of continuous contact with another culture in behaviors of immigrants residing in the United States. Evidence is mixed as to whether acculturation using Social networks and modern communication technology helps or harms African immigrants who make America their new home. This study will be the first to evaluate the relationship between acculturation and modern communication technologies amongst African immigrants. This study should provide a foundation for further cross-cultural research on social communication networks, acculturation and the physical and psychological functioning of African American children Significance of the Problem The influx of African immigrants and their children to the United States in the last two decades has been phenomenal. The number of African immigrants to the United States more than quadrupled in the last two decades (Immigration and Naturalization Services, 2009;, Jo, 1999). We are aware of the correlates of social activity behavior of African American children (Chandler et al, 2002), However, little is known about the social activity behaviors and unique personal, social and environmental correlates of social activity in African immigrant children use of social networks and communication technologies in their adjustment to a new society. Thus, it is important to identify the influence of acculturation process using social networks and modern communication technologies, in addition to commonly examined correlates of social activity on African American childrens social activity behavior. Objective of this study The purpose of this study is to examine how the use of Internet social communication networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and modern communication technologies like smart-phones instant messages, multimedia (online gaming), blogging and discussion forums called Social Activity, have impacted the acculturation process of young African immigrants(18-25 years) to the nation. The larger goal is to increase understanding of cultural conflicts, semiotics of language differences, and adaptation process in order to promote diversity and enrichment in American society. Research questions The proposed research will answer the following questions What are the social activity behaviors of young African immigrants using social networks or modern communication technologies? What are the metrics of young African immigrants potential strategies to be pursued within their adaptation process correlated with their use of social networks and modern communication technology? Is there a direct effect and/or indirect effect of acculturation on social activity behavior through intrapersonal correlates of social activity using social networks and modern communication technology? What are the relationships between acculturation (multidimensional [young African immigrant and American acculturation] and proxy [language, length of stay in the US, age at immigration]) and other background correlates of social activity (use of social network sites, communication with peers on Internet and communication technologies serving as status symbol), interpersonal correlates of social activity and social activity behaviors of young African immigrants. Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework used to guide this study will be adapted from Anthony Giddens structuration theory of interaction of groups and organizations with information technology called Adaptive Structuration Theory (DeSanctis, G., Poole (1994) modified this model and used it successfully and criticized the technocentric view of technology use and emphasized social aspects. DeSanctis, G., Poole, M. S. (1994) emphasized that groups and organizations using information technology for their work dynamically create perceptions about the role and utility of the technology, and how it can be applied to their activities. These perceptions can vary widely across groups. One major assumption of this model is that the role and utility of technology and how it can be applied influence the way and how technology is used and hence mediate its impact on group outcomes. To understand and give validity to these perceptions by DeSanctis Pooles theory (1994), Gordon (1964) concept of Assimilation in American life will be evaluated to determine changes in behaviors pattern of immigrants based on use of technology. Literature reviews This research will present a comprehensive literature review on acculturation of young African immigrant into americans social-cultural pattern in their use of social technologies. An in-depth look will be provided into the aspects of web-based social technology associated phenomena including languages, interactions, cultural influences and status quo of these technologies as modern wave of new generation acceptance. Amongst specific literatures to be reviewed will be based on the following model lists. Social change and Acculturation Social activity enables psychology of social change and acculturation, which showed that many psychological characterizes become altered as individuals experience changes in their socio-cultural milieus (Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Segall Dasen, 2002). These changes can be as a result of social changes that are taking place from within a society (Georgas, 1993), or may result from contact with other cultures (Feldman et al, 2002). Berry et al (2002) also concluded that these changes have been identified as economic changes that move people away from traditional pursuits and norms towards new forms of employment and empowerment, alteration in social relationships including intergroup and interpersonal relations, and cultural changes that involve the alteration of traditional institutions and the replacement of these with imported ones. Socio-cultural values of technology assimilation by young West African immigrants Information technologies are both a by-product of the socio-cultural environment within which they evolve as well as a substantive and strategic sub-system of that environment (Elmandjra, 2001). McGinn (2006) explained that the significance of understanding a new cultural environment is to accept the invasion of technologies and their products or to opt for an active stand and for the elaboration of strategies and policies to ensure social relevance as well as cultural coherence. Steward (2009) believed that cultures do not change according to some inner logic, but rather in terms of a changing relationship with a changing environment even with technology. Americanism and Social Networks The Internet has fundamentally changed our communication patterns in which peoples interactions are increasingly dependent on electronic communication channels and less confined by territorial gaps. Such change has shrunk the distances between physical location significantly and thus brought about a brand new view of space and time (Miller, 2002; Watson et al., 2002). As the need for adaptation of African immigrant children into American way of life continues, the need for study of the cross-cultural adoption and use of IT has been souring which is evidenced by the surging number of pertinent research papers published and presented. Computer networks have been used to support information and knowledge exchange among geographically dispersed users and distributed social interactions (Ahuja et al., 2003). Social-cultural adaptation of modern communication tools Blau (1964) showed that social exchange theory positing that individuals engage in social interaction because they expect to receive some type of reward whose form does not necessarily confine to monetary value but also emotional values including approval status and respect. Wasko et al. (2005) clarified further that one potential way an individual can benefit from active participation is the perception that participation enhances his or her personal reputation in the society. Therefore, reputation, acceptance and status symbols are assets that young West African immigrant can leverage to achieve and maintain assimilation within a collective environment (Jones et al., 1997). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology consists of three phases to leverage the strengths of qualitative and quantitative methods. The first phase will review extant research literature related to the influential factor of web-based social networks as a form of communication technology participation. The picture of the semiotics of cultural interaction will be evaluated as an adaptation process of young West African immigrants. The objective of this exercise will be to identify explanatory constructs from academic works across disciplines including social network theory, cultural dimensions, and individual level technology acceptance as evidence amongst selected young West African immigrants to the United States. The second phase will allow researcher to conduct in-depth interviews of young West African immigrants that meet the minimal requirements for web-based social network usage on one hand and other physical communication tools such as cell phones, blogging and multimedia. These interviews will be guided by a qualitative interview instrument, which contains a series of open-ended questions for the interview process. By engaging in the interview will allow the researcher to further elicit driving factors of user adoption of both social networks and the social activity involved in the use of the physical communication tools. The final phase, along with indicators generated in phase one and two will allow researcher to gather data from these interviews to create a 100-page quantitative survey that will be distributed to a random population of young West African immigrant in 25 states in the United States of users of both social networks and communication tools. In this way, empirical evidence can be obtained through analyzing users ratings of indicators that pinpoint the significance of social communication technology to acculturation of young West African American immigrants. The instrument will be subjected to content validity analysis, the sampling frame will be identified to enable the broadest generalization, and the instrument items will be assessed for discriminated validity. Work plan for data collection In order to maintain both social and material properties, it is important to adopt a triangulation concept which could establish legitimate ground to reduce the methodological conflict between qualitative and quantitative research approaches (Orlikowski and Robey 1991; Yin, 1994). McGrath (1982) justified the use of both qualitative and quantitative method in three methodological dimensions namely generalizability, precision and realism. Researcher intends to incorporate the three dimensions in his research work plan for data collection. Sample Frame Researcher intends to select research subjects before the research design can be carried out for data collection. The sample frame for pre-test and large scale survey will be drawn from two distinct areas. The first will be from college students whose ages range between 17 to 24 in United States and new West African immigrants who recently won the DV Visa lottery. In order to justify using this frame, the researcher will revisit the focal issue of this research and explain how it would be difficult to conduct meaningful research without studying young west African immigrants who are both new and young web-based social communication tool users or adopters. Data Collection Since this research will include technology study, survey and controlled experiment are considered widely adopted to establish causal relationships between observed variables. Each of them bears advantages and disadvantages and it is contingent upon various factors to decide which one has better fit with the research context. Lyberg and Kasprizyk (1991) explained that expected quality of collected data, estimated costs, expected level of errors and length of the data collection period are major reasons for controlled experiment. Bailey (2002) agrees that this will explain why lab experiment are not as popularly used in social science as in other disciplines such as natural science. In addition to survey, other content analysis techniques including secondary data sources, archive data exploration, objective measures or tests, and semi-structured interviews are used to compensate for some limitations of quantitative data analysis. Qualitative Data Collection The qualitative data collection to be used will range from interviews, observational techniques such as participant observation and fieldwork, through to archival research. Both primary and secondary sources of data will be used exclusively in this research. Insights into social networks and web-based communication tools will be generated based on a wide range of discovery of industrial reports, newspaper stories, national statistics and descriptive research. The primary sources of data will refer to those data which are unpublished and which the researcher has gathered from the subjects or organization directly. The interview process will involve interviewees from US and from 25 states primarily at selected colleges. Written permission will be obtained with the application for IRB approval from each college. The screening process will consider subjects commonalities and cohesion of traits including culture, education and social communication tool activity in a web-based environment. Guidelines will also be incorporated into the interview design to elicit the subjective, contextual, and spontaneous information concerning web-based socializing activities and consistent use of modern communication tools. Quantitative Data Collection Selltiz et al., (1976) explained that when using the explanatory survey approach that makes logical inferences from non-experimental data, the researcher does not need to manipulate predicting variables or make assignment of groups because the variables are observed in their natural settings. Newsted et al., (1996) further clarified that epistemologically, surveys provide one way of obtaining and validating knowledge and raised the question whether surveys had outlived their usefulness and concluded that surveys are appropriate in certain conditions and less useful in others. Selltiz et al. (1976) argued that an explanatory survey is applicable when studying complicated social phenomena in which causal patterns contain multiple factors and more than one predicting variable is found. Cronbach (1971) explained that the main purpose of conducting the survey is to move from observations to theory validation by using an instrument that captures necessary data in an unbiased manner. It is suggested that by doing this will require a clear understanding of the concepts of constructs and their relationships which are important to make sense of human behavior involving information systems use. Scales Development The researcher will use psychometric response scales, a five point Likert scale will be selected: Strong Disagree/Disagree/Neutral/Agree/Strongly Agree. Researcher chose this type of response scale because of its good balance between parsimonious design and room of response. Researcher did not use the most popular wider range of scale such 7 or 10 because of its ambiguity in transformation data. Dawes (2008) found that data from 5-level, 7-level and 10-level items showed very similar characteristics in terms of mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis after a simple transformation was applied. He further explained the lack of precision regarding the differences between somewhat disagree and somewhat agree. Dawes (2008) further clarified that in order to avoid response bias which poses challenges in collecting effective data that accurately reflect the social facts, it is important to use a scale with balanced keying, such as a five point scale that has an equal number of positive and ne gative statements which can mitigate the problem of acquiescence bias because acquiescence on positively keyed items will balance acquiescence on negatively keyed items (pg. 79). Proposed Instrument Researcher will cover three general areas of structuration theory of interaction of groups and organizations with information technology called Adaptive Structuration Theory and pertinent hypothesis are rooted in research literature of IS and socio-cultural theories that would help to answer the research questions suggested in this research. The areas to be covered will include the use of technology and social communication tools, social behavior motivation to acculturation and cultural conflict influence of the immigrants Pretest Researcher will engage in pretest which refers to a research process/experiment that precedes a full scale study to examine whether operational constructs or variables are appropriate for further analysis. Researcher will use various forms of experiments and aims to replicate the formal experiment but on a smaller scale. Hunt et al., (1982) An important rule of thumb in conducting pretest is to use sampling subjects who have the closest characteristics with those of full scale data collection. For this research, both groups of college students and DV lottery winners in the U.S. will be selected to complete the questionnaire to provide further feedbacks in terms of appropriateness of items, length of time required to finish, and overlooked dimensions. This feedback will be considered in the process of finalizing the instrument that will be distributed to a large scale sample target. The research methodology will also include content validity, measurement equivalence, common methods bias, and non-response bias. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS Researcher will describe data collection procedures and also present data analysis results using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Researcher also plans to use supportive empirical finding which will be explained along with how statistical assumptions are satisfied. These statistical evidences will be used to examine any hypotheses generated from literature study and inferences. Researcher will also provide both descriptive and interpretive data analysis using the structural equation modeling techniques. Researcher will also answer most research questions from a confirmatory perspective, links theoretical assumptions and conclusions and completes the research methodology Qualitative Data Analysis Researcher will use narrative style and open ended interview questions rather than retrieving answers based on fixed options multiple choices. Shim et al., (2002) explained that qualitative data can reveal the realism aspect of investigated subjects. So this section will be used to interpret perceived data obtained from interviewees in a focus group environment Method Description Focus Group Researcher believed that it is important to understand what motivates subjects of this research and the understanding of user behavior in the use of social communication network and tool when they find themselves in a different cultural environment. Researcher will use focus group method by selecting a group of interviewees (in this case, less than 30), which consist of individuals that meet the pre-screening requirements (Morgan 1998). The group will participate in the discussion whose topic is designated by the researcher. As a validated approach in behavioral sciences, focus groups are administered in US. All participants are selected social network and communication tools users including rejecters (used Social network and communication tools and decided to discontinue usage). Researcher intends to have a table list of profile of interviewees in the United States. Quantitative Data Analysis Researcher will analyze perceptional data statistically to discover interesting patterns hidden behind human behaviors. Respondents will be asked to report their true opinions according to a structured survey that contains items generated in literature review and qualitative data analysis. Method Description Large Scale Survey Lee (1999) argued that surveys are particularly useful in determining the actual values and interactions of variables. Researcher will use an approach which would be seen to have the following strengths: compared to interpretive methods, it will be easy to administer; it will determine the values and relations of variables and constructs; generalizability and replicability will also be tested; it will be capable of testing theoretical propositions in an objective fashion. Selltiz et al. (1976) argued that an explanatory survey should be adopted when studying complicated social phenomena in which causal patterns contain multiple factors and more than one predicting variable is found. Cronbach (1971) emphasized that the main purpose of conducting the surveys is to move from observations to theory validation by using an instrument that captures necessary data in an unbiased manner. Researcher will use both paper based and web based survey instrument. The selection of sample subjects will be strictly based on how well the characteristics of the target population can be represented. Data Collection Analysis Researcher will use analysis that would demonstrate respondents social background that is consistent with the research design, namely, young African immigrants with appropriate social network and communication tool use experience. Researcher will also use a pilot study that will examine initial content validity of the collected data. Straub (1989) explained that non-response bias is a major threat to the validity of the survey method. Demographic Statistics Researcher will use a demographic statistics of respondents that are categorized in four dimensions: age, gender, web or Internet experience and modern communication tools. Researcher will use high level of homogeneity of domestic nature within one group young west African immigrants and a high level of heterogeneity across groups Structural Equation Modeling Researcher will use the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) which is a statistical technique widely used in social science research. Byrne (2006) indicated that this consists of two major parts: a measurement model and a structural model. This technique is similar to multiple regressions; however, SEM is a powerful technique in constructing and examining causal relationships using measurement error and model fitness. The justification for using SEM is that it employs a confirmatory rather than exploratory approach to test models. Therefore, it is an ideal selection for theory verification instead of development, even though in reality SEM does carry some exploratory nature. Chin (2008) suggested that SEM enables IT researchers to achieve the goals including: evaluate and control measurement model errors of latent variables, simultaneous analysis of multiple paths relationships, and flexibility of testing theoretical assumptions. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The core issue of research is to examine how the use of Internet social communication networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and modern communication technologies like smart-phones instant messages, multimedia (online gaming), blogging and discussion forums called Social Activity, have impacted the acculturation process of young African immigrants(18-25 years) to the nation. Most of the research questions are expected to be answered in this research and findings discussed to explain different related behaviors in acculturation of young west African immigrants. Using mixed methods of both qualitative and quantitative, the researcher will be able to reveal context-oriented insights that are complement empirical findings which are statistically inferred to large population of samples. With this in mind, researcher will divide the discussion of findings into two aspects of quantitative and qualitative including further justifications of research methodology, the implications of these findings, future research directions and conclusions.